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MAIN 


FAVOR 


LISM 


GIFT  OF 


Why  I  Am 
In  Favor  of  Socialism 


SYMPOSIUM 


Original  Papers 


EDWARD  SILVIN 


Sacramento,    California 
U.  S.  A. 


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Copyright,  1913 

BY  EDWARD  SILVIN 


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INDEX  TO  AUTHORS 


Allen,   Fred   Hovey 31 

Andrews,   Eliza  Frances 10 

Andrews,  Martin  Register 12 

Axon,  Stockton 23 

Baldwin,   E.   F 11 

Baxter,  James  Phinney 11 

Beard,  Daniel   Carter 11 

Bigelow,  Poultney 9 

Broome,   Isaac 15-16 

Burgess,  Gelett 8-9 

Cazalet,  Edward  Alexander 31 

Chancellor,   William  Estabrook 7-8 

Clare,   Israel    Smith 24-25 

Conger-Kaneko,   Josephine 31 

Cooke,  George  Willis 36 

Cutler,  James  Elbert 5 

Fisk,  Everett  Olin 9 

Fleming,   William   Hansell 22 

Gates,  George  Augustus 7 

Helms,   E.   J 31 

Hitchcock,  Charles  C 32-34 

Hume,   Gibson 17-21 

James,   George  Wharton 35 

James,  W.  E.  S 25-27 

Kalley,  Ella  Hartwig 29 

Kinney,   Abbot 30 

Koeb,  Otto 36 

Levermore,  Charles  Herbert 29-30 

London,   Jack 5 

Loveman,    Robert 5-6 

Noll,   Aaron 34 

O'Neill,    John    M 25 

Parsons,  Eugene 16-17 

Peake,   Elmore   Elliott 27 

Pease,  Charles  Giffin 13 

Post,  Louis  Freeland 6 

Russell,  Charles   Edward 34-35 

Sawyer,  iRoland  Douglas 14 

Schindler,    Solomon ^ 23 

Silvin,   Edward 37 

Sinclair,    Upton 14 

Smiley,    James    L 6 

Strobell,   George  H 28-29 

Towne,  Elizabeth 12 

Taylor,  J.  P 15 

Weber,  Gustavus  Adolphus 27-28 

Whitaker,  Robert 22 

White,   Hervey 9-10 

Whitson,  John  Harvey 10-11 

Williams,  S.  B 15 


273545 


Vvny  I  Am  In  Favor  of  Socialism 


London,  Jack.  (Author.) 

I  am  in  favor  of  Socialism  because  I  am  an  individualist, 
and  because  in  Socialism  I  see  the  only  possible  social  organi- 
zation that  will  give  equal  opportunity  and  an  even  chance  to 
every  individual  to  develop  and  realize  what  is  strongest  and 
best  in  him — and  in  her,  if  you  please. 

Because  Socialism  is  in  line  with  social  evolution,  is  fore- 
shadowed as  inevitable  by  today's  social  tendencies,  was  fore- 
shadowed as  inevitable  by  the  social  tendencies  of  ten  thou- 
sand years  ago  and  ten  thousand  generations  ago. 

Because  I  am  convinced  that  it  is  the  only  form  of  social 
organization  that  will  give  a  square  deal  to  the  little  boys  and 
girls  that  are  coming  into  the  world  today,  tomorrow,  and  in 
the  davs  after  tomorrow's  morrow. 


Cutler,  James  Elbert.  (University  Professor.) 

I  am  in  favor  of  Socialism  as  regards  its  aims  and  pur- 
poses, because  I  believe  it  to  be  in  this  respect  in  harmony  with 
the  fundamental  principles  of  social  progress. 


Loveman,  Robert.   (Poet.) 

I  believe  Plato  favored  an  ideal  commonwealth,  and  I 
favor  Plato. 

Walt  Whitman  was  inclined  towards  the  Utopian  theory 
— and  Walt  was  a  poet  with  a  "yawp,"  that  was  perhaps  bar- 
barian— but  it  was  emphatic. 

I  am  something  of  a  Socialist — a  little  of  a  Communist — I 
hope  not  much  of  an  Anarchist — and  I  believe  with  Lincoln 


that  "God  must  love  the  common  people — He  made  so  many 
of  them." 

Wm.  Morris,  the  English  poet,  had  Socialistic  theories — 
and  headed  a  movement  in  1884,  I  believe — so  we  have  plenty 
of  example.  I  do  not  hate  the  rich — but  I  pity  the  poor — and 
I  do  not  think  a  few  men  should  own  billions — and  hoard  the 
wealth — and  that  millions  of  human  kind  starving,  barely 
exist.  "We  are  still  savage. 


Post,  Louis  Freeland.  (Editor,  The  Public,  Chicago,  111.) 

I  am  in  favor  of  Socialism  because  it  aims  at  abolishing  the 
exploitation  of  labor. 


Smiley,  James  L.   (Clergyman.) 

I  am  in  favor  of  Socialism  because — First:  It  stands  for 
absolute  justice.  It  guarantees  to  every  one  the  full  product 
of  his  labor.  It  provides  that  children  and  infirm  and  aged 
persons  be  cared  for  by  the  strong.  It  demands  that  all  the 
natural  resources  of  the  earth  be  equitably  administered  for 
all  the  inhabitants. 

Second:  Socialism  will  abolish  capitalism,  which  is  a  grand 
system  of  gambling. 

Third :  Socialism  will  abolish  the  evil  fruits  of  capitalism, 
such  as  internecine  commercial  competition,  the  white  slave 
traffic,  preventable  poverty  and  disease,  and  war  itself. 

Fourth :  Socialism  means  brotherhood,  industrial  and  com- 
mercial. It,  therefore,  harmonizes  with  the  teachings  of  the 
Bible,  making  the  Ten  Commandments  and  the  "Sermon  on  the 
Mount"  perfectly  practicable. 

Fifth:  As  an  excellent  example  of  its  practical  value,  So- 
cialism will  solve  the  intricate  liquor  problem.  By  public  own- 
ership this  traffic  will  be  purified  from  all  adulterations  and 
excessive  abuse,  allowing  (in  harmony  with  the  Bible)  the 
temperate  use  of  pure  beverages. 

Sixth:  Socialism  is  the  economic  expression  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

— G— 


Gates,  George  Augustus.  (President,  Fisk  University.) 

I  don't  think  I  am  wholly  in  favor  of  Socialism,,  though  I 
believe  it  would,  even  if  actually  in  power,  be  better  than  the 
present  reign  of  stark  capitalism. 

I  am  in  favor  of  about  nine-tenths  of  what  Socialism  advo- 
cates. Nearly  all  of  the  world's  real  troubles  arise  from  self- 
ishness. Some  way  must  at  last  be  found  out  of  that  regime. 
The  world  is  keyed  to  mutual  helpfulness ;  consequently  there 
is  and  ought  to  be  discord  as  long  as  we  stupidly  play  the 
great  game  of  life  in  the  false  key.  There  is,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  mutual  helpfulness  anyhow;  we  cannot  live  without  each 
other,  and  more  so  as  our  civilization  rises.  The  trouble  is 
that  in  the  present  order  this  helpfulness  is  an  incident,  not 
the  motive.  All  gospels  must  unite  to  make  it  the  motive. 


Chancellor,  William  Estabrook.  (Lecturer  and  Author.) 

It  all  depends  upon  the  definition  and  description  of  So- 
cialism. I  am  heartily  in  favor  of  what  I  call  Socialism.  I  was 
indeed  mayoralty  candidate  in  my  city  upon  a  Socialistic 
ticket.  I  do  not  see  how  any  good  or  intelligent  man  can  op- 
pose my  notions  of  Socialism.  To  illustrate :  I  believe  that 
God  made  the  earth  for  all  of  us  and  that  it  is  a  crime,  vile  and 
terrible,  to  allow  any  man  or  woman  as  landlord  to  collect  rent 
from  the  father  of  a  family  or  the  mother  of  babies  for  a  place 
upon  which  to  rear  their  children — God's  children,  my  brothers. 
Yet  I,  myself,  am  both  a  landlord  and  a  rent  tenant  because  of  a 
pitiful  legalistic  and  economic  regime  that  does  not  allow  me 
to  solve  my  problem.  I  am  a  landlord  of  a  trust  estate  and  yet 
unable  to  buy  a  home  where  my  business  is  because  I  cannot 
sell.  It  is  a  mere  illustration.  There  are  tens  of  thousands  of 
others  as  pertinent. 

To  illustrate  again :  I  am  sure  that  it  is  absurd  and  wicked 
that  some  should  rot  in  luxury  without  working,  while -others- 
die  of  the  diseases  of  starvation  though  working  diligently.  I 
am  in  favor  of  changing  the  statute  laws  so  that  these  kings 
shall  no  more  be,  than  chattel  slavery  of  blacks,  or  the  punish- 
ment of  religious  heresy  by  death.  I  believe  that  the  Father 
in  Heaven  does  not  intend  the  vicious  inequitableness  of  this 


—7 — 


passing  economic  system  and  of  this  social  regime  upon  which 
the  habit-minded  look  with  such  apish  pleasure.  I  refuse  to 
eat  the  leavened  bread  of  the  Pharisees  and  to  sit  silent  amid 
these  wrongs;  but  at  the  same  time  I  suspect  that  I  am  rather 
an  opportunistic  reformer,  a  Christian  Socialist,  perhaps  a 
Social  Democrat,  than  a  revolutionary  all-or-none,  now-this- 
minute  Socialist,  for  I  can  be  charitable  to  most  other  men 
who  still  worship  the  idols  of  the  market-place.  Some,  how- 
ever, I  cannot  forgive;  I  cannot  forgive  the  hypocrites  or  the 
malicious. 


Burgess,  Gelett.  (Author.) 

I  am  in  favor  of  Socialism  because  I  believe  that  co-opera-^ 
tion,  rather  than  competition  will  the  sooner  bring  about  tin- 
brotherhood  of  man. 

.  Because  the  conditions  that  surround  the  majority  of  man- 
kind are  continually  growing  worse,  and  Socialism  offers  a 
radical  solution  for  the  problem  of  the  greatest  happiness  for 
the  greatest  number. 

Because  the  rich  are  steadily  growing  richer,  and  the 
poor,  poorer,  under  the  present  industrial  system. 

Because  the  concentration  of  this  wealth  in  the  hands  of 
a  few  has  shown  the  possibility  of  a  centralized  control  of  the 
industries,  and  has  taught  methods  of  handling  big  business, 
so  that  these  activities  may  and  should  be  in  the  hands  of  the 
people. 

Because  of  the  enormous  saving  through  co-operation, 
both  time  and  opportunity  will  be  increased  for  the  benefit 
of  the  people. 

Because  the  use  of  this  time  may  be  used  by  the  people 
for  education,  for  culture,  for  travel  and  for  larger  mental 
growth. 

Because  this  change  in  economic  system  will  emancipate 
woman  by  making  her  man's  equal  and  will  thereby  develop 
her  mind,  her  self-respect,  and  her  inventive  capacity. 

Because  with  a  rational  industrial  system  and  the  oppor- 
tunity for  leisure  natural  and  sexual  selection  will  work  more 
freely  amongst  men  and  women  by  giving  both  a  wider  choice, 
a  better  approximation  of  the  ideal  mate. 


Because  this  effect  will  result  in  a  benefit  and  happiness 
not  only  to  the  present  but  to  the  future  of  the  race. 

Because  Socialism  is  the  only  project  which  contemplates 
these  benefits. 


Bigelow,  Poultney.   (Author  and  Barrister.) 

I  am  in  favor  of  Socialism  because  it  is  the  teachings  of 
our  Savior,  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  his  predecessors,  the  Buddhists, 
and  before  them  the  people  who  followed  the  example  of  Rama 
or  Brahma. 


Fisk,  Everett  Olin.  (President  of  the  Fisk  Teachers'  Agencies.) 

While  I  do  not  count  myself  a  Socialist  in  the  extreme 
sense  and  shall  never  vote  a  Socialist  ticket.  I  lean  very 
strongly  toward  public  ownership  of  public  utilities  and  find 
myself  in  cordial  sympathy  with  the  view  of  some  of  my  inti- 
mate friends  who  will  vote  for  Mr.  Debbs.  Just  how  fast  the 
public  should  assume  control  of  public  utilities  I  am  not  clear, 
but  I  feel  quite  sure  that  we  should  move  in  that  direction  and 
keep  public  ownership  in  mind  as  an  ideal.  Whatever  embar- 
rassments may  arise,  and  certainly  embarrassments  must  arise 
in  any  change  of  program,  I  feel  that  the  disadvantages  would 
be  more  than  offset  by  the  education  of  the  public  and  by  the 
cultivation  of  public  spirit  which  would  naturally  accompany 
the  gradual  introduction  of  public  control. 

The  fact  that  the  post-office,  the  public  schools  and  in  many 
cities  water*  supply,  street  lighting  and  transportation  have 
been  well  managed  by  the  public,  promises  well  for  extension 
of  public  control  and  I  think  we  are  moving  along  toward  this 
perhaps  as  fast  as  can  be  expected,  in  view  of  our  imperfect 
human  nature. 


White,  Hervey.  (Novelist  and  Poet.) 

Socialism  seems  to  me  the  most  practical  plan  for  the  indi- 
viduals of  a  highly  specialized  and  complicated  society  to  share 

—9— 


the  duties,  the  responsibilities,  and  the  rewards  of  their  organi- 
zation. 

It  is  the  logical  development  of  our  system  of  combination 
or  " trusts"  that  has  already  supplanted  competition.  It  will 
do  more  to  put  the  wealth  produced  by  intellect  and  labor  into 
the  possession  of  the  earners  than  any  program  I  'have  met 
with. 


Andrews,  Eliza  Frances.     (Author  and  College  Professor.) 

There  are  so  many  reasons  why  I  am  a  Socialist  and  why 
everybody  should  be  one,  that  it  would  require  a  book  to  give 
them  all.  A  few  of  them  are  : 

First:  Because  I  believe  that  those  who  do  the  work  of 
the  wTorld  should  receive  the  full  product  of  their  labor,  and 
not  be  forced,  as  under  the  capitalist  system,  to  pay  a  tribute 
from  their  toil  for  the  support  of  useless  idlers. 

Second:  I  believe  that  "the  earth  and  the  fullness  there- 
of" was  provided  by  nature  for  the  benefit  of  all  her  children, 
and  not  as  the  "vested  interest"  of  a  few  greedy  monopolists. 

Third :  As  history  teaches  us  through  the  example  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  all  who  have  rendered  the  greatest  and  noblest  serv- 
ices to  mankind,  that,  love  of  greed  and  personal  gain  is  not 
an  incentive,  but  a  hindrance  to  noble  deeds.  I  believe  that 
Socialism,  by  removing  this  hindrance,  will  leave  men  free  to 
follow  the  higher  promptings  of  their  nature,  and  through  the 
noble  incentives  it  offers,  hasten  the  evolution  of  the  race  to  a 
higher  plane. 


Whitson,  John  Harvey.  (Novelist.) 

At  present  I  am  a  Progressive.    But  I  can  see  that  our  in- 
|dustrial  system  is  breaking  down.    As  men  rise  in  the  scale  of 
humanity  they  reaeh  a  point,   and   it   is  now  near,   when  the 
/  exploitation  of  the  weaker  by  the  stronger  can  no  longer  be 
/    tolerated.     I  think  present  conditions  clearly  show  that  the 
government  (the  people)  should  own  all  such  natural  monopo- 
lies as  coal,  oil,  minerals  and  the  like ;  and  that  the  railways, 
express  companies,  and  the  big  machinery  of  transportation 

—10— 


should  also  be  government  conducted,  like  the  post-office.  When 
that  has  been  accomplished,  further  steps  in  that  line  can  be 
taken,  if  the  people  deem  that  best.  In  so  far,  I  am  in  favor 
of  Socialism,  and  stand  ready  to  go  farther  when  it  seems  de- 
sirable and  the  people  are  ready  for  it.  That  is,  have  risen  to  it. 


Beard,  Daniel  Carter.  (Author  and  Artist.) 

I  am  in  favor  of  Socialism  because  I  am  not  afraid  of  their 
ever  introducing  into  this  country  the  Socialism  of  Carl  Marx, 
and  I  do  believe  that  by  their  propaganda,  their  enthusiasm 
and  insistency,  they  are  forcing  people  to  think  who  otherwise 
would  drift  along  in  the  same  old  rut,  and  anything  that  makes 
the  people  think  stands  for  progress,  although  it  may  not  be 
progress  along  the  lines  advocated. 


Baldwin,  E,  F.  (Editor,  Star,  Peoria,  111.) 

Socialism  is  a  beautiful  dream,  but  when  we  wake  up,  we 
still  have  to  scratch  for  a  living.  Under  Socialism,  one  man 
is  as  good  as  another,  and  generally  a  good  deal  better.  Pov- 
erty is  a  crime.  Therefore,  every  poor  man  ought  to  be  in  jail. 
Socialism  is  a  panacea  for  all  the  present  ills.  The  trouble  is, 
nobody  wants  to  apply  it.  Under  the  present  system,  it  is  every 
man  for  himself,  and  the  devil  take  the  hindmost.  Under 
Socialism  every  man  is  hindmost.  Every  honest  man  now  is  a 
Socialist.  The  trouble  is,  there  are  no  honest  men.  I  never 
knew  but  one  honest  Socialist  editor,  and  he  has  just  committed 
suicide. 


Baxter,  James  Phinney,  (Author  and  Ex-Mayor,  Portland,  Me.) 

Socialism  is  subject  to  several  definitions.  There  is  a 
Christian  Socialism  which  embodies  the  spirit  of  the  second 
precept:  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  It  is  pa- 
tient and  long-suffering;  wise  in  its  efforts  of  helping  men  to 
advance  by  righteous  ways  to  the  stature  of  true  manhood. 

—11— 


Towne,  Elizabeth,  (Editor  and  Author.) 

I  am  in  favor  of  the  Socialist  ideal,  because  it  aims  to  take 
care  of  all  the  people,  affording  equal  opportunity  for  every- 
body to  develop,  laying  no  extra  burdens  on  any  one  person 
or  class  of  persons.  I  believe  the  Socialist  ideal  to  be  the 
ripened  fruit  which  the  world  is  to  bring  forth. 

But  I  do  not  believe  in  the  Socialist  practice  of  forcing 
the  ripening  of  that  fruit.  In  other  words,  I  do  not  believe  the 
world  is  ready  to  do  away  with  capitalism.  And  I  do  not  be- 
lieve in  the  inopportunism  of  Socialists.  I  do  not  believe  in 
tearing  off  the  husks  of  capitalism  before  human  intelligence 
is  ripe  for  expression  on  the  higher  plane.  As  long  as  Social- 
ists hold  aloof,  and  will  not  co-operate  with  capitalism  they 
show  themselves  unfit  to  co-operate  with  all  the  people  in  the 
world  in  the  making  of  an  ideal  government  without  capital- 
ism. The  Socialists  missed  the  chance  of  a  life-time,  yes.  of  a 
hundred  years,  when  they  did  not  lead  and  nominate  Theodore 
Roosevelt  and  Hiram  Johnson  on  their  own  ticket,  instead  of 
putting  up  two  men  whom  they  know  it  is  impossible  to  elect 
this  year,  thus  weakening  the  strength  of  Roosevelt,  who  is  try- 
ing to  put  into  practice  a  whole  lot  of  the  Socialist  program, 
which  the  Socialists  accused  him  of  stealing  from  them.  As  if 
the  Socialists  themselves  did  not  steal  every  one  of  those  ideas 
from  somebody  else  !  Why,  Confucius  ran  a  Socialist  government 
five  hundred  years  before  Christ.  I  am  opposed  to  the  Social- 
ist practice  of  hypnotising  itself  with  the  working  class  con- 
sciousness, in  opposition  to  all  other  classes.  Because  of  Social- 
ist inopportunism  others  will  have  to  do  the  practical  work  of 
putting  into  practice  the  Socialist  ideal.  Theodore  Roosevelt 
has  done  and  is  doing  more  to  bring  Socialism  into  practice 
than  any  other  one  man  in  the  world  today. 


Andrews,  Martin  Register.  (College  Professor  and  Editor.) 

I  have  listened  attentively  to  the  talks  of  Socialist  ora- 
tors, who  seem  to  be  honest,  earnest  men,  who  have  a  strong 
desire  to  do  something  for  the  betterment  of  "poor,  sad  hu- 
manity." With  many  of  the  reforms  for  which  they  plead  I 
am  heartily  in  sympathy. 

—12— 


Pease,  Charles  Giffin,  M.  D.  (Reformer  and  Author.) 

I  am  in  favor  of  Socialism,  the  fundamental  basis  of  which, 
as  I  understand  Socialism,  is  economic  co-operation  or  the  indi- 
vidual laboring  for  the  good  of  the  whole ;  for  the  reason  that 
competition  is  based  upon  selfishness,  and  stimulates  selfish- 
ness. 

Competition  or  doing  business  for  individual  gain  is  re- 
sponsible for  the  placing  of  liquor  saloons  on  almost  every 
other  block  of  some  of  our  avenues ;  for  the  opening  of  a  still 
larger  number  of  tobacco  stores  for  the  sale  of  the  most  poison- 
ous weed  grown ;  for  the  opening  of  gambling  halls,  race  tracks, 
questionable  resorts  and  brothels  of  all  kinds.  Doing  business 
for  personal  gain  is  an  incentive  to  foister  upon  the  people 
intoxicating  liquors,  tobacco  and  other  harmful  drinks  and  ar- 
ticles by  means  of  alluring  advertisements ;  the  adulteration  of 
foods ;  the  maintaining  of  high  prices,  thus  depriving  the  poor, 
who  are  victims  of  the  competitive  system,  of  the  necessities  of 
life. 

Under  the  present  system,  the  anxiety  of  the  employed 
upon  the  advent  of  "dull  times,"  lest  they  may  lose  the  needed 
employment ;  the  unrest,  the  chicanery,  the  criminality  and  the 
perversion  of  normal  appetites  resulting  therefrom,  is  opposed 
to  the  best  interests  of  the  race  morally,  mentally  and  physi- 
cally. 

'Competition  or  doing  business  for  personal  gain,  develops 
the  worst  there  is  in  man.  Co-operation  or  the  individual 
laboring  for  the  whole,  brings  out  or  develops  the  best  there 
is  in  man  and  establishes  true  brotherhood.  The  greatest  bene- 
factors the  world  has  ever  known  have  labored  for  the  uplift 
of  the  race  without  personal  material  gain  as  an  incentive,  but 
with  the  full  knowledge  that  their  labors  would  mean  for  them 
persecution  or  perhaps  the  Cross. 

Under  Socialism,  the  whole  moral  atmosphere  would  be 
changed  and  the  individual,  and  consequently,  the  race  would 
be  enriched  in  the  development  of  qualities  that  make  for 
peace,  joy,  love  and  normality,  as  man  would  merge  from  the 
influence  of  the  present  conditions  into  the  influence  of  the 
conditions  under  Socialism. 


—13— 


Sawyer,  Roland  Douglas  (Clergyman  and  Author,  Ware,  Mass.) 

We  of  the  present  generation  come  into  a  world  where  the 
swamps  are  cleared,  the  forests  felled,  the  soil  ready  for  our 
seed,  roads  of  gravel,  steel,  and  across  the  trackless  waters 
connect  us ;  great  machines  of  iron  and  steel  are  ready  to  take 
upon  their  tireless  muscles  the  work  of  the  world — and  the 
human  race  today  is  rich — so  rich  that  it  can  easily  supply  the 
material  needs  of  every  soul. 

But  still  over  half  the  race  are  in  want,  just  as  though  we 
were  poor. 

The  only  thing  needed  is  a  scientific  organization  of  indus- 
try, and  Socialism  is  a  scheme  for  such  scientific  organization. 
Therefore,  I,  as  being  intelligent  to  the  present-day  conditions, 
favor  Socialism. 

Of  course,  those  who  are  selfishly  receiving  personal  gains 
out  of  the  present  system,  and  those  who  live  in  the  ideas  of 
the  dead,  will  howl  for  "things  as  they  are,"  but  more  and 
more  we  must  firmly  (though  kindly)  show  them  the  door — 
they  don't  belong  with  us  of  this  day. 

I  might  also  add  that  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  advocate 
Socialism  to  square  myself  with  my  profession ;  I  am  a  minister 
of  the  Gospel;  as  such  I  advocate  before  men  that  there  is  a 
loving  Father  in  Heaven ;  that  Jesus  was  the  divine,  ideal  man ; 
that  human  beings  have  souls  that  will  not  die  with  the  body. 
I  could  not  advocate  these  things  without  blushing  if  I  did  not 
at  the  same  time  condemn  the  existing  social  Order — for  the 
existing  social  order  kills  the  souls  in  men,  the  ideals  of  Jesus 
cannot  live  in  it,  and  should  it  continue  we  could  not  believe 
in  a  loving  Father  who  rules  things.  For  me  to  preach  the  gos- 
pel of  Jesus  without  at  the  same  time  demanding  social  revo- 
lution, would  be  for  me  to  confess  that  I  was  either  a  mental 
prostitute  or  a  moral  pervert,  and  I  hope  I  am  neither. 


Sinclair,  Upton.  (Author.) 

I  am  in  favor  of  Socialism  because  it  is  impossible  for  me 
to  be  happy  while  living  under  a  system  which  deprives  others 
of  the  fruits  of  their  labor. 


—I' 


Taylor,  J.  P.  (Manufacturer,  Winston^Salem,  N.  C.) 

I  am  in  favor  of  Socialism  because  I  think  that  the  time 
has  about  arrived  for  society  to  take  into  its  own  hands  the 
operation  of  the  means  of  producing  and  distributing  the 
wealth  by  which  it  lives  and  progresses. 

I  have  become  conscious  that  the  present  mode  of  produc- 
tion and  distribution  of  wealth  does  not  fill  society's  require- 
ments ;  that  private  ownership  is  no  longer  necessary  in  the 
machinery  of  wealth  production  and  distribution,  either  as 
owning  or  managing;  that  the  whole  machinery  is  operated 
by  hired  men ;  that  these  hired  men  can  better  be  used  to  pro- 
duce social  wealth  for  use  than  private  wealth  for  profit. 


Williams,  S.  B.  (Clergyman,  Eureka  Springs,  Ark.) 

I  am  in  favor  of  Socialism  because  it  is  more  than  a  politi- 
cal party.  It  is  a  world  movement  having  as  its  fundamental 
principles,  the  teachings  of  Jesus.  It  is  an  intensely  practical 
interpretation  of  such  teachings.  Socialism  stands  for  the 
brotherhood  of  the  human  race.  It  is  a  constructive  program 
of  economics  that  will  result  in  the  emancipation  of  the  wage 
slave.  Many  good  people  misunderstand  Socialism,  be- 
cause some  of  its  most  ardent  advocates  blunder  in  their  teach- 
ing, and  its  growth  is  retarded  by  the  fact  that  skeptics  and 
infidels  become  prominent  in  leadership  and  try  to  foster  their 
private  religious  beliefs  on  the  movement,  but  in  time  all  such 
will  find  their  proper  level,  and  all  true,  earnest  Christians  will 
be  glad  to  embrace  the  propaganda,  and  Socialism  in  its  truest 
aspects  will  help  to  usher  in  the  kingdom  promised  by  our  Lord. 


Broome,  Isaac.  (Sculptor,  Lecturer,  Inventor  and  Author, 
Trenton,  N.  J.) 

All  good  men — poets,  artists,  moralists,  philosophers,  scien- 
tists, economists,  scholars — have  in  all  ages  proclaimed  the  ideal 
of  a  civilization,  wherein  all  should  help  and  protect  each  other, 
to  develop  intelligence  and  destroy  ignorance,  which  is  the 
root  of  all  crime  and  misery. 

—15— 


Socialism  has  for  its  proper  idea  the  fulfillment  of  this 
universal  hope — by  uniting  the  world  industrially,  with  the 
object  of  abolishing  poverty  as  the  base  of  ignorance,  and  igno- 
rance as  the  base  of  crime,  injustice  and  disorganized  society. 
This  is  the  ideal.  An  ideal  impossible  at  present  with  society 
composed  of  a  few  ignorant,  predatory  rich  and  a  mass  of 
equally  ignorant,  predatory  poor — both  destroyers  of  society's 
substance,  from  the  scientific,  economic  view. 


Parsons,  Eugene.  (Editor.) 

I  am  not  altogether  opposed  to  Socialism.  I  am  willing  to 
see  a  move,  yes,  several  moves,  made  in  that  direction.  I  am  in 
favor  of  municipal  ownership  of  public  utilities,  such  as  gas, 
water,  electric  light,  street  railways,  etc.  When  franchises 
for  these  utilities  are  sold  or  given  away  to  an  individual  or 
a  company,  they  afford  opportunities  for  private  enrichment 
at  the  expense  of  the  people  at  large. 

If  such  enterprises  as  water  or  lighting,  or  tramways,  be 
in  the  hands  of  the  city  fathers,  the  profits,  if  there  be  any, 
go  into  the  pockets  of  the  common  people,  which  is  better  than 
A  the  piling  up  of  fortunes  by  the  favored  few,  known  in  com- 
mon parlance  as  "big  business." 

It  has  been  proved  time  and  again  that  men  of  business 
ability  and  initiative  do  have  public  spirit  and  are  willing  to 
serve  the  people  well,  to  give  the  attention  requisite  for  suc- 
cess in  the  management  of  public  utilities.  I  have  a  case  in 
mind.  The  light  plant  of  Ellsworth,  Iowa,  is  a  paying  propo- 
sition, although  run  by  the  town.  Says  the  "Ellsworth  News," 
December  5,  1912 : 

"Not  only  is  it  a  question  of  being  on  a  paying  proposi- 
tion, but  the  comfort  of  having  good  lights  is  worth  consider- 
able. The  city  fathers  are  to  be  congratulated  upon  the  man- 
agement of  the  light  plant.  Many  dollars  of  expense  would 
have  been  added  to  the  installation  of  the  plant  had  they 
charged  anything  for  their  services,  but  they  had  gone  to  a 
great  deal  of  trouble  and  a  large  amount  of  expense  that  they 
had  paid  out  of  their  own  pockets,  just  because  they  were 
enough  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  town  to  push  things 
along  and  make  it  a  success." 
• 

—16— 


There  it  is  in  a  nutshell — unselfish  service.  So  it  is  a  mat- 
ter that  involves  one  of  the  fundamentals  of  human  nature. 
However,  the  altruistic  sentiment  will  develop  more  and  more 
under  a  different  system  from  the  present,  with  all  its  inequali- 
ties in  the  distribution  of  wealth. 

The  question  is  a  large  one,  requiring  full  discussion.  Let 
the  trial  of  municipal  ownership  and  management  be  made,  I 
say.  Time  will  tell  how  much  of  grafting  will  be  done.  Je 
ne  sais  quoi.  I  for  one  am  willing  to  risk  it. 

Furthermore,  let  us  go  one  step  toward  Socialism  in  an- 
other direction.  I  refer  to  the  nationalization,  of-  railways.  I 
am  in  favor  of  it,  and  hold  that  all  public-spirited  citizens 
should  advocate  it,  whether  Socialists  or  not.  It  would  simpli- 
fy things,  and  put  an  end  to  the  extortionate  charges  of  the 
express  companies,  to  say  nothing  of  unfair  freight  rates. 


Hume,  Gibson,  A.  M,,  Ph.  D.  (Head  of  the  Department  of 
Philosophy,  University  of  Toronto,  Canada.) 

To  endorse  and  accept  all  the  various  conflicting  and  even 
contradictory  proposals  loosely  and  popularly  called  Socialism 
would  indeed  be  absurd  and  ridiculous.  Nevertheless,  on  the 
whole  the  term  Socialism  has  stood  for  constructive  rather 
than  destructive  plans.  What  might  be  termed  Christian  So- 
cialism, or  perhaps  still  better  constructive  Christian  Social- 
ism, has  ideals  and  aims  that  I  unhesitatingly  adopt  as  noble, 
just  and  right.  When  it  comes  to  a  program  or  plan  to  give 
practical  application  and  realization  to  these  ideals  there  is 
much  room  for  debate  and  difference  of  opinion.  Here,  it 
seems  to  me,  we  face  real  problems. 

Christian  theology  dealing  with  the  relations  of  God  and 
man  succeeded  long  ago  in  definitely  rejecting  the  abstract 
atomism  of  atheism,  and  also,  though  perhaps  not  so  clearly 
and  definitely,  the  pantheism  which  over-zealous  for  God  for- 
got to  leave  a  place  for  human  personality. 

In  our  time  modern  Christianity  is  concentrating  its 
attention  on  the  problems  of  the  relation  of  mian  to  man,  of 
the  individual  to  the  community,  and  logically  and  consist- 
ently with  its  past  speculations  opposes  the  extreme  individ- 
ualism that  issues  in  anarchism  and  atomism,  and  also  opposes 

—17— 


the  other  extreme  of  communism  which  overshadows  the  indi- 
vidual overmuch  in  its  zeal  for  the  collective  standpoint,  and 
the  opposition  in  this  instance  is  the  more  notable  because  the 
early  Christian  Church  for  a  short  time  really  tried  the  experi- 
ment of  having  "all  things  in  common."  W'hile  modern  con- 
structive Christian  Socialism  rejects  the  opposing  panaceas 
of  a  simple  character  offered  by  the  extreme  individualist  on 
the  one  hand  and  the  extreme  collectivist  on  the  other,  it 
nevertheless  sees  in  each  of  these  one-sided  proposals  and 
theories  a  certain  measure  of  truth,  and  it  therefore  faces  the 
much  more  difficult  and  complex  problem  of  trying  to  com- 
bine and  harmonize  these  partial  truths  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  secure  a  proper  self-respecting  individualism  or  personal 
responsibility  on  the  one  hand,  and  an  adequate  collectivistic 
co-operation  on  the  other. 

With  this  double  aim  and  purpose  in  mind  there  has  arisen 
a  beginning  at  least  of  a  positive  and  constructive  program 
leading  toward  this  goal.  Emerging  from  the  mediaeval  twi- 
light where  the. fallacy  was  widespread  that  made  religion  a 
thing  apart,  modern  Christian  thought  is  suspicious  of  any  re- 
ligious creed  or  profession  which  remains  a  merely  intellectual 
assent  or  declaration  of  faith,  and  demands  that  a  true  religion 
should  also  permeate  and  transmute  the  life  and  issue  in  con- 
duct touching  and  helping  the  lives  and  conduct  of  others. 

The  key  to  the  Christian  social  position  is  the  "Golden 
Rule,"  not  las  a  mere  sentiment  of  kindliness,  though  that  is 
good  as  far  as  it  goes,  but  it  must  be  made  to  go  further  and 
issue  in  a  principle  of  action,  a  principle  in  action  controlling 
the  practice,  guiding  and  inspiring  the  actual  conduct  of  life, 
both  in  its  individual  and  in  its  social  or  collective  aspect. 

At  the  outset,  then,  it  respects  and  preserves  the  indi- 
vidual, not  by  the  negative  and  suicidal  method  of  rejecting 
the  claims  of  society,  but,  on  the  contrary,  insisting  that  the 
individual  can  develop  his  moral  personality  only  by  accept- 
ing the  duties  of  social  service,  which  when  properly  under- 
stood becomes  not  a  burden  but  a  privilege,  since  in  this  way 
alone  may  real  self-hood  'become  realized. 

Zeal  for  the  preservation  of  the  other  person  inspired  the 
earlier  attack  on  slavery ;  it  now  reappears  in  a  crusade  against 
industrial  bondage.  Corporations  now  resist  control  on  the 
plea  that  it  is  an  interference  with  personal  liberty.  The  Chris- 
tian view-point  never  granted  to  the  individual  a  selfish  lib- 

—18— 


erty  of  defying  properly  constituted  authority,  much  less  such, 
right  to  a  corporation.  It  now  makes  it  perfectly  plain  that 
the  individual  has  duties,  and  to  this  view  of  the  individual 
it  would  be  ludicrous  for  the  corporation  to  appeal  in  its  dis- 
like to  bow  to  social  demands. 

In  international  relations  the  claim  of  Christianity  to  be 
under  the  Prince  of  Peace  makes  modern  Christian  Socialism 
demand  that  other  nations  should  be  treated  not  simply  as 
good  neighbors,  but  as  actual  brothers,  since  all  are  children 
of  the  same  Father.  Hence  it  follows  that  the  brutality,  waste 
and  wickedness,  the  wholesale  butchery  and  murder  known 
as  war,  must  be  condemned  and  opposed.  Furthermore,  all 
militarism  and  jingoism,  all  journalistic  or  other  stirring  up  of 
bad  feeling,  leading  to  strife  between  different  races,  the 
atavistic  revival  of  ancient  blood  feuds  or  modern  commercial 
intrigues  to  reap  profit  out  of  the  piling  up  of  armaments 
oppressing  the  common  people,  are  all  to  be  resisted.  The  spe- 
cious claim  that  armies  and  navies  are  merely  policy  restrain- 
ing criminals  is  easily  seen  to  be  erroneous,  for  if  each  army 
claims  to  be  a  policy  restraining  criminals,  it  must  follow  that 
each  army  is  by  the  other  army  put  among  the  class  of  crim- 
inals. .And  the  fallacious  claim  that  preparation  for  war  is  a 
guarantee  of  peace,  an  insurance  policy  against  war,  is  met 
by  the  counterclaim  that  the  best  way  in  times  of  peace  to 
insure  the  continuance  of  peace  is  to  extend  the  principles  and 
practices  that  teach  the  value  of  peace,  that  conduce  to  peace, 
that  make  people  desirous  that  peace  may  continue.  The  belli- 
cose claim  that  our  neighbors  cannot  or  will  not  attack  us  if 
we  are  powerful  enough  in  armaments  to  intimidate  them, 
simply  teaches  other  nations  to  pursue  the  same  policy  of  at- 
tempted intimidation,  which  can  only  breed  ill  will  and  ulti- 
mately tend  to  provoke  actual  hostilities. 

When  disputes  'and  misunderstandings  arise,  Christian 
Socialism  favors  arbitration  as  a  peaceful  way  of  settling  dif- 
ferences, appealing  to  right  and  justice  and  intelligence,  not 
to  brute  force  and  blind  passion.  Hence  the  development  of 
the  principles  of  international  law  and  justice,  the  establish- 
ing of  international  courts  of  appeal  and  arbitration  in  mat- 
ters of  divided  jurisdiction  or  conflict  of  interests  is  explicitly 
approved.  Within  the  State,  the  principles  of  Christian  Social- 
ism demand  that  each  person  participate  in  governing,  mak- 
ing government  to  become  simply  collective  self-control 

—19— 


through  willing  co-operation.  In  proper  theories  of  govern- 
ment much  progress  has  been  made  towards  at  least  the  par- 
tial adoption  of  "the  rule  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the 
people,"  though  this  miaxim  is  disregarded  for  earlier  tyranni- 
cal or  paternal  theories  of  government  wherever  women  are 
debarred  from  taking  their  share  in  the  duty  of  directing  and 
controlling  the  laws  governing  all  and  affecting  all,  not  only 
men  but  also  women.  The  reason  for  still  excluding  children 
is  simply  due  to  the  fact  of  their  immaturity. 

It  is  in  the  field  of  industry  and  commerce  that  the  great- 
est reconstruction  will  need  to  be  made,  for  after  having 
struggled  so  long  to  secure  the  freedom  of  the  individual  when 
it  becomes  clearly  recognized  that  the  only  freedom  that  is 
even  partially  secured  is  the  negative  one  of  being  left  alone 
and  that  positive  freedom  of  efficient  action  is  lacking,  there 
is  bound  to  be  a  new  direction  to  the  constant  efforts  of  civili- 
zation to  secure  the  good  of  its  component  members.  When 
aggregations,  companies,  corporations,  trusts,  etc.,  become  an 
"imperium  in  imperio,"  turning  the  powerful  engine  of  com- 
bination into  the  work  of  consolidating  selfish  aggrandizement 
and  rendering  impossible  the  development  of  a  normal  and 
healthy  life  among  the  great  masses  of  the  unorganized,  the 
lesson  taught  by  the  power  of  organization  is  likely  to  be 
learned  by  the  masses,  and  this  will  point  to  the  attempt  to 
secure  the  control  for  the  co-operative  community  of  all  those 
great  fundamental  factors  that  are  sometimes  called  natural 
monopolies,  and  the  old  regime  that  allowed  these  to  be  used 
as  toll  houses  on  the  highway  of  progress  to  levy  tribute  to 
private  monopoly  and  leading  to  the  formation  of  a  class  of 
idle  rich  on  the  one  hand  and  of  idle  poor  on  the  other,  will 
require  most  radical  reconstruction  in  the  interests  of  man- 
kind. 

As  Christian  Socialism  has  no  simple  formula  to  solve  all 
the  manifold  and  complex  economic  difficulties,  it  must  go 
slowly,  cautiously  and  experimentally.  As  it  sympathizes  witli 
both  the  individualist  and  the  collectivist  in  certain  respects 
in  each  case,  it  may  seem  to  favor  opposing  policies,  but  per- 
haps it  is  a  case  of  walking  forward  by  first  moving  up  the 
left  foot,  then  the  right  foot. 

Where  competition  is  found  by  experience  to  be  both 
feasibly  and  advantageous,  Christian  Socialism  will  strive  to 
secure  real  competition  and  so  will  assist  in  removing  any  de- 

—20— 


vice  tariff  or  tax  that  favors  one  and  penalizes  the  other.  On 
the  other  hand,  where  monopolistic  control  is  unavoidable  or 
economically  advantageous,  it  will  strive  to  have  such  monopo- 
listic enterprize  strictly  supervised  and  controlled  by  govern- 
ment or  where  it  is  practicable  owned  and  operated  by  the 
community  through  its  government,  central  or  local. 

Christian  Socialism  stands  unambiguously  <and  clearly  for 
the  sanctity  and  preservation  of  the  family  as  a  fundamental 
social  unit  more  significant  that  the  disconnected  individuals 
in  whose  interests  much  legislation  has  been  made  bearing 
heavily  on  the  family  and  favoring  unduly  those  who  have 
selfishly  preferred  to  stand  alone.  •  As  the  perpetuation  of 
the  race  is  one  of  the  most  obvious  and  outstanding  of  the  pur- 
poses of  the  family,  marriage  will  need  to  be  safeguarded  still 
more  with  this  in  view,  that  is  to  the  securing  of  fit  and  proper 
persons  as  parents  through  the  guardianship  complete  super- 
vision and  restraint  of  the  unquestionably  unfit.  Neverthe- 
less, Christian  Socialism  could  scarcely  be  expected  to  endorse 
some  of  the  wild  and  even  shockingly  cruel  and  barbarous  pro- 
posals of  the  eugenic  group. 

The  child  is  the  special  ward  and  care  of  Christian  Social- 
ism, and  here  all  the  earlier  paternalism  of  primitive  Chris- 
tianity may  still  find  beneficent  scope.  The  child  should  be 
protected,  nurtured  and  cared  for,  and  trained  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  prepare  for  the  most  efficient  and  noble  service  at 
maturity.  In  the  child  we  see  embodied  our  hope  for  the  fu- 
ture, hence  as  the  most  promising  road  to  the  fulfillment  of  the 
dreams  of  all  social  reformers  and  idealists  we  must  eventually 
learn  to  concentrate  our  efforts  on  the  child.  How  can  the 
child  be  trained  so  as  to  develop  most  fully  his  latent  aptitudes 
and  abilities  so  as  to  be  capable  on  the  one  hand  of  reaching 
his  own  greatest  realization  and  on  the  other  hand  contributing 
most  to  the  good  of  the  race?  Surely  we  should  all  aim  to 
secure  for  each  and  every  child  the  fullest  development  of  all 
his  powers,  physical,  mental,  moral-religious,  and  the  moral- 
religious  most  of  all  if  we  are  to  secure  that  altruistic  charac- 
ter, that  unselfish  disposition  without  which  all  plans,  schemes 
and  programs  must  necessarily  end  in  failure. 


—21— 


Fleming,  William  Hansell.  (Lecturer,  Author  and  Editor.) 

If  by  Socialism  you  mean  that  the  individual  in  asserting 
and  demanding  his  rights  should  consider  and  grant  equal 
rights  to  all  others  in  the  community,  then  I  am  in  favor  of 
Socialism. 


Whitaker,  Robert.  (Clergyman  and  Editor.) 

I  am  in  favor  of  Socialism  because  I  see  no  other  way  out 
of  the  world-wide  social  distress  which  afflicts  all  the  indus- 
trial nations  today.  Capitalism  has  outlived  its  historic  func- 
tion, and  is  today  a  cause  of  intolerable  oppression,  immeas- 
urable misery  'and  irrepressible  conflict.  The  whole  order  of 
things  by  which  society  exists  for  the  exploitation  of  the  many 
by  the  few,  either  through  competition  or  private  monopoly,  is 
fundamentally  awry,  and  must  be  superseded  by  an  order 
which  shall  give  us  the  largest  measure  of  practicable  co-oper- 
ation for  ends  of  common  service.  There  can  be  no  real  or 
lasting  peace  between  capital  and  labor  until  society  recognizes  • 
the  common  rights  of  all  in  natural  resources,  until  we  meet 
the  marvelous  multiplication  of  human  effort  through  mechan- 
ical invention  with  social  ownership  and  democratic  control 
of  the  machine,  and  until  the  whole  industrial  order  is  organ- 
ized so  as  to  eliminate  the  waste  of  competition  not  in  the 
interest  of  a  few  great  industrial  barons,  but  in  the  interest 
of  the  whole  body  of  laborers.  This  is  the  program  of  Social- 
ism in  a  large  way,  a  system  of  social  service  as  against  a  sys- 
tem of  private  profit,  of  co-operation  as  against  exploitation, 
whose  threefold  objective  is  to  make  every  man  a  partner  with 
every  other  man  in  the  commonwealth  of  nature,  in  the  com- 
mon gain  of  the  world's  inventive  genius  which  is  fundamen- 
tally social  and  not  individual  in  its  origin,  and  in  the  organi- 
zation of  industrial  life,  which  ought  to  be  democratic  and  not 
autocratic  or  oligarchic  in  its  end. 

I  am  for  Socialism  because  Socialism  is  the  economic  ex- 
pression of  both  democracy  and  religion,  and  because  as  such 
it  is  as  inevitable  as  the  movement  of  the  suns. 

—22—  • 


Schindler,  Solomon.  (Author.) 

If  Socialism  means  the  adjustment  of  social  conditions  of 
the  past  to  the  industrial  and  commercial  needs  of  the  present 
or  some  future  day;  if  its  objects  are  the  utilization  of  natural 
forces,  inventions  and  discoveries,  for  the  benefit,  not  of  the 
few,  but  for  the  greatest  number — I  am  thoroughly  in  favor 
of  Socialism. 

Or,  if  Socialism  stands  for  an  endeavor  to  improve  all 
things  human,  .to  attack  all  the  hostile  forces  that  threaten 
human  well-being,  such  as  hunger,  sickness,  ignorance,  etc. — I, 
again,  am  in  favor  of  Socialism  or  any  "ism"  that  will  try  to 
make  this  world  a  happy  abode  of  human  beings. 

But,  if  Socialism  should  stand  for  upheaval  by  force  in- 
stead of  peaceable  evolution ;  if  it  should  appeal  to  class  hatred 
nurtured  by  envy;  if  it  should  endeavor  to  realize  dreams  of 
an  impossible  economic  equality  by  means  of  the  ballot  or 
nitro-glycerine — in  that  case  I  am  not  in  favor  of  Socialism. 

Show  me  your  Socialism,  and  I  will  tell  you  whether  I  am 
in  favor  of  it  or  not. 


Axon,  Stockton.  (University  Professor  and  Writer.) 

I  think  that  all  people  who  hold  progressive  opinions  are 
desirous  of  getting  a  more  equitable  distribution  of  the  wealth 
which  is  produced  by  the  many,  of  getting  such  governmental 
adjustments  as  will  destroy  favors  and  special  privileges  un- 
der the  government,  of  getting  a  government  sensitive  to  the 
interests  of  all  instead  of  a  few.  I  believe  these  things  can  be 
accomplished  by  the  free  processes  of  democracy  in  the  hands 
of  a  thoroughly  aroused  and  informed  people,  sufficiently  in- 
formed to  make  their  own  choices,  and  sufficiently  determined 
to  hold  their  leaders  responsible  to  themselves,  the  people. 

Every  progressive  platform  has  in  it  something  that  may 
be  called  Socialistic,  and  I  am  not  sure  just  how  much  pro- 
gressivism  is  necessary  to  make  a  Socialist. 

Politically,  I  am  a  Democrat,  and  I  was  never  stronger 
than  now  in  the  faith  that  Democracy  can  be  free  and  power- 
ful to  serve  the  best  interests  of  the  whole  people. 

—23— 


Clare,  Israel  Smith.  (Historian,  Author  of  "Library  of  Univer- 
sal History,"  15  Vols.  Address :  Lancaster,  Pa.,  R.  F.  D.  2.) 


I  am  a  Socialist  because  Socialism  is  right;  because  it  is 
industrial  democracy  and  economic  freedom;  because  it  is  in 
accordance  with  the  principle  of  human  brotherhood;  because 
it  is  against  dividing  up,  against  breaking  up  the  home,  against 
free  lust  (wrongfully  called  "free  love,"  as  all  love  is  free 
love,  there  being  no  forced  love  or  compulsory  love),  against 
killing  good  incentive  or  good  personal  initiative;  because  it 
is  against  robbing  the  producer  of  four-fifths  of  his  product; 
because  it  is  against  poverty,  misery,  prostitution,  vice,  crime, 
insanity,  war,  murder,  suicide,  pestilence,  famine,  ignorance 
id  all  that  is  bad;  because  its  ethics  are  identical  with  the 
'ethics  of  Jesus  Christ;  because  it  would  make  man's  existence 
in  this  life  a  heaven  upon  earth;  because  the  Socialism  we 
already  have  works  so  well,  as  our  post-office  system,  our  pub- 
lic school  system,  our  free  textbook  system,  our  public  water 
and  fire  departments,  our  public  roads,  our  public  parks,  our 
public  playgrounds,  our  public  libraries,  etc. ;  because  it  is  the 
next  step  in  accord  with  economic  revolution  and  is  inevitable, 
is  destined  to  come  in  spite  of  all  opposition,  in  spite  of  all 
obstacles  thrown  in  its  way  to  obstruct  or  retard  it,  and  in 
spite  of  all  mistakes  or  shortcomings  of  Socialists  themselves; 
in  short,  because  Socialism  is  a  rising  sun. 

I  am  opposed  to  Capitalism,  because  it  is  social  and  eco- 
nomic slavery;  because  it  is  in  accord  with  the  doctrine  of 
human  greed  and  selfishness;  because  it  robs  the  workers  and 
the  industrious  and  rewards  the  shirkers  and  the  exploiters; 
because  it  is  for  dividing  up  with  a  vengeance;  because  it 
breaks  up  the  home  by  low  wages,  unemployment  and  high 
cost  of  living,  as  shown  by  government  statistics,  which  tell  us 
that  there  are  a  million  divorces  every  ten  years  in  this  coun- 
try ;  because  it  promotes  race  suicide,  as  the  marriage  rate  and 
the  birth  rate  are  decreasing,  and  the  death  rate  increasing,  in 
all  so-called  civilized  countries;  because  it  causes  panics  and 
business  depressions  and  makes  ninety-eight  out  of  every  hun- 
dred business  men  fail  (according  to  Dunn's  Agency  figures)  ; 
because  it  discourages  all  good  incentive  and  encourages  all 
bad  incentive;  because  it  promotes  free  lust,  or  so-called  "free 
love;"  because  it  causes  poverty  and  then  punishes  its  vic- 
tims for  being  poor;  because  it  breeds  poverty,  misery,  crime, 

24 


prostitution,  drunkenness,  insanity,  political  corruption,  pesti- 
lence, famine,  war,  murder,  suicide,  ignorance  and  all  that  is 
bad ;  because  it  is  in  accordance  with  the  ethics  of  His  Satanic 
Majesty;  because  it  is  a  setting  sun,  a  dying  system,  as  it  is 
destroying  itself,  is  impregnated  writh  the  seeds  of  its  own 
dissolution,  is  slowly  committing  suicide  and  digging  its  own 
grave,  giving  up  the  ghost,  unwept,  unhonored  and  unsung. 


O'Neill,  John  M.  (Editor,  The  Miners'  Magazine,  Denver,  Colo.) 

I  am  in  favor  of  Socialism  because  I  believe  that  Socialism 
in  operation  means  the  emancipation  of  the  human  race.  It  is 
idle  to  talk  about  political  liberty  while  the  vast  majority  of 
the  people  are  without  industrial  liberty.  The  man  who  owns 
a  thousand  jobs,  owns  a  thousand  lives.  Such  a  statement  may 
sound  harsh  and  brutal  to  the  man  whose  cradle  has  been 
rocked  beneath  the  starry  banner  of  young  Columbia,  and  he 
may  say  to  me,  "I  am  not  a  slave  for  I  can  quit  the  owner  of 
the  job,"  but  if  he  quits  the  owner  of  the  job  and  he  belongs 
to  the  disinherited  class,  the  wage  earning  class,  then  necessity 
demands  that  he  shall  seek  another  owner  of  jobs,  and  he  has 
merely  changed  masters  and  he  is  still  a  slave. 

For  men  to  be  free,  they  must  own  their  jobs,  and  to  own 
the  jobs  the  people  must  own  collectively,  the  natural  re- 
sources of  the  earth,  and  its  machinery  of  production  and  dis- 
tribution. 

I  am  in  favor  of  Socialism  because  collective  ownership  of 
the  earth  and  its  machines  of  production  and  distribution  will 
open  wide  the  gates  of  equal  opportunity  to  every  man,  woman 
and  child  who  live  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  Socialism  means 
that  the  profit  system  shall  be  destroyed  and  that  upon  its 
shattered  ruins  shall  be  built  a  real  republic,  beneath  whose 
sheltering  dome,  there  can  live  no  master  and  no  slave. 


James,  W.  E.  S.,  M.  A.,  B.  D.  (Clergyman,  Ayr,  Ont.,  Canada.) 

Socialism  is  the  scientific  analysis  of  the  present  state  of 
society  and  the  theory  of  social  development  founded  thereon. 

—25— 


A  'Socialist  is  one  whose  study  of  this  scientific  analysis  has 
convinced  him  that  society  is  progressing  towards  a  co-opera- 
tive commonwealth.  My  study  extends  over  fifteen  years, 
and  1  clearly  see  the  gradual  concentration  of  capital — -the 
gradual  consolidation  of  labor  interests  and  the  life  and  death 
struggle  between  them.  As  no  question  is  ever  settled  until  it 
is  settled  right,  this  can  have  only  one  result — the  capturing 
of  the  wealth  of  the  nations  by  the  producers  of  wealth  and 
the  utilizing  of  it,  not  for  the  few,  but  for  the  whole  people. 

With  the  passing  of  the  small  privately  owned  shop 
through  the  coming  of  the  large  manufactury,  socially  oper- 
ated but  privately  owned,  way  was  prepared  for  the  larger, 
nation-wide  manufactury,  socially  operated  and  socially  owned. 
It  must  come. 

As  right  has  behind  it  all  the  power  of  omnipotence  and 
so  must  prevail  the  present  system,  which  makes  the  many 
toil  in  poverty  while  the  few  live  on  the  earnings  in  idleness 
and  luxury,  must  make  way  for  a  system  which  will  provide 
a  more  equitable  reward  of  labor. 

As  competition  is  based  on  man's  selfishness  and  so  is  un- 
Christian,  co-operation,  based  on  man's  brotherhood,  the  es- 
sence of  Christianity,  must  supersede  it. 

The  capitalistic  system  must  consider  profits  first — business 
must  pay — and  men  second.  The  last  hundred  years  has  traced 
the  gradual  rise  of  man  and  the  next  twenty-five  will  see  him 
freeing  himself  from  this  system  of  wage  slavery  and  evolv- 
ing another  which  will  dethrone  the  dollar  and  will  enthrone 
the  rights  of  man. 

When  the  ballot  was  given  to  the  masses  and  free  educa- 
tion to  their  children,  the  inevitable  result  was  the  rise  of  these 
masses  to  assert  their  freedom  and  their  right  to  all  the  product 
of  their  labor — possible  only  in  a  co-operative  commonwealth. 

Every  great  religious  awakening  of  the  past  has  resulted 
from  the  preaching  of  some  great  neglected  truth  especially 
needed  in  that  age.  The  next  great  religious  awakening  will 
come  from  preaching  the  one  sadly  neglected  truth  of  this  age 
— economic  justice  and  brotherhood.  It  will  be  greater,  more 
fundamental,  more  stupendous  in  its  effects  than  any  reforma- 
tion or  revolution  of  the  past.  It  is  inevitable. 

This  coming  emancipation  of  man — dethronement  cf  com- 
petition and  dollar  rule — the  new  moral,  social  and  religious 

—26— 


awakening — these  give  my  life  its  greatest  joy,  its  highest 
hope,  and  its  greatest  inspiration  to  service.  I  am  in  favor  of 
Socialism. 


Peake,  Elmore  Elliott.  (Author.) 

The  word  "Socialism"  (aside  from  its  partisan  use)  has 
so  many  connotations  that  one  can  hardly  say  he  is  either  for 
it  or  against  it  without  being  misconstrued.  With  Socialism's 
cardinal  tenet,  the  better  distribution  and  the  better  produc- 
tion of  wealth,  I  am  heartily  in  sympathy,  as  I  suppose  every- 
body is.  People  disagree  as  to  the  means  by  which  this  may 
be  obtained.  Public  ownership  of  wealth-producing  factors 
is  evidently  coming  more  and  more  into  favor,  as  is  evidenced 
by  the  municipal  ownership  of  electric,  gas  and  water  plants. 
This  principle  is  bound  to  be  extended. 

But  it  seems  to  me  that  Socialism  stands  with  Prohibition 
to  this  extent :  Long  before  either  of  them  has  made  sufficient 
converts  to  put  their  party  in  power,  their  principles  will  have 
been  incorporated  by  other  parties  which  do  not  confine  them- 
selves to  these  specific  contentions. 


Weber,  Gustavus  Adolphus.  (Economist.) 

The  ideal  of  Socialism,  as  I  understand  it,  is  a  condition 
of  society  in  which  each  individual  will  render  his  share  of 
service  in  the  production  and  distribution  of  wealth,  and  in 
which  each  will  receive  his  proportionate  share  for  consump- 
tion. I  do  not  dispute  the  desirability  of  such  a  condition.  I 
take  issue  with  the  Socialists  in  their  contention  that  this  con- 
dition can  be  brought  about,  or  that  a  material  advance  to- 
ward such  a  condition  can  be  accomplished,  by  legislation. 

Society  must  advance  by  gradual  evolution,  as  it  has  done 
since  its  beginning,  and  I  believe  that  this  ideal  condition  is 
still  many  generations,  perhaps  centuries,  distant.  The  only 
way  to  strive  for  its  realization  is  for  each  generation  to  do  its 
part  in  promoting  a  spirit  of  temperance,  co-operation,  fair- 
ness and  intellectuality.  Society  will  then  gradually  realize 

.^27— 


the  waste,  unfairness  and  barbarism  of  industrial  competition, 
of  inheritance  and  of  unequal  distribution  and  consumption. 
While  man  is  thus  slowly  becoming  civilized,  he  will  naturally 
devise  from  time  to  time,  such  laws  and  such  forms  of  govern- 
ment as  will  fit  each  stage  of  his  development. 


Strobell,  George  H. 

I  work  and  vote  for  Socialism.  Every  age  has  its  special 
problems,  its  special  tyranny  to  combat,  its  own  liberty  and 
independence  to  preserve,  to  hand  down  to  its  descendants. 
The  machine  has  destroyed  hand  labor  and  association  in 
labor  is  inevitable.  The  machine,  too  large  and  complex  to 
be  owned  by  individuals,  has  made  necessary  combinations  of 
owners.  Combinations  of  owners  destroyed  competition,  and, 
through  resultant  economy  and  increase  of  production  and 
profit,  became  rich  and  powerful  corporations.  These  corpo- 
rations control  the  means  of  life  of  over  nine-tenths  of  the 
people.  The  owners  no  longer  are  the  administrators  of  their 
property.  They  hire  the  necessary  business  abilities  to  run 
the  business  machine,  but  they  insistently  demand  higher  divi- 
dends and  profits.  These  demands  cause  the  virtual  slavery 
of  the  workers,  and  millions  work  today  long  hours  at  a  speed 
and  productive  capacity  never  before  known  in  the  world,  and 
get  so  little  for  it  that  they  are  hungry  all  the  time,  live  in 
squalor  and  dress  poorly.  More  and  better  machinery  being 
constantly  invented,  turns  loose  on  the  labor  market  a  host  of 
unemployed  to  compete  with  their  fellow  workers  for  work. 
We  are  not  the  freeman  our  fathers  were. 

Fortunes  so  vast  as  to  stagger  the  imagination  for  a  few ; 
dire,  ever-increasing  poverty  for  the  masses  is  now  and  will 
be  increasingly  the  result  of  this  development  unless — 

Unless  we  look  at  it  in  the  sane  way,  as  a  development 
toward  a  new  order,  where  the  people  will,  in  their  collective 
capacity,  own  and  operate  and  democratically  manage  all  in- 
dustry. That  will  be  Socialism.  There  is  no  other  way  of 
escape  in  sight.  Socialism  is  not,  however,  inevitably  the  out- 
come. There  must  be  conscious  action  by  the  people  to  turn 
this  evolution  away  from  its  present  tendency.  To  continue 

—28— 


as  we  are  is  to  invite  the  destruction  ot  our  civilization.  There- 
fore I  work  and  vote  for  Socialism.  It  is  a  step  forward  in  the 
progress  of  the  race  and  a  promise  of  the  fulfillment  of  the 
prayer,  "Thy  Kingdom  come,  on  earth  as  it  is  in  Heaven." 


Kalley,  Ella  Hartwig.  (Lecturer.) 

I  have  long  felt  the  need  of  a  more  humane  form  of  gov- 
ernment, a  system  of  justice  regulating  international  commer- 
cial 'relations,  insuring  peace  and  education  for  the  older  as 
well  as  the  younger  persons. 

Our  country  should  be  a  republic,  industrially  as  well  as 
politically,  and  liberate  the  wage  slave  by  the  abolition  of  the 
capitalist. 

As  a  writer,  I  shall  continue  to  defend  the  interests  of  the 
masses  instead  of  the  classes,  and  as  a  Temperance  Suffragette 
Socialist  lecturer,  I  shall  endeavor  to  inspire  my  audiences 
above  the  misty  horizon  of  all  other  political  parties  to  the  star 
line  of  true  reform,  which  is  "the  hoe  of  promise"  and  basis 
of  a  nation's  greatness. 

I  am  not  alone  in  the  thought  that  a  temperance  plank 
added  to  the  Socialist  Platform  \vould  cause  the  greatest  ma- 
jority to  leave  other  parties,  as  Socialism  would  be  more  at- 
tractive than  ever,  to  the  very  finest  and  best  representatives 
of  society  everywhere,  while  justice  would  flower  and  bloom 
and  the  Dove  of  Peace  perch  upon  our  banners.  It  would  be 
a  lame  platform  for  any  political  party  to  overlook  the  cry- 
ing need  of  reform  on  all  lines  and  to  enforce  the  boasted  pure 
food  law,  and  at  the  same  time  to  tolerate  and  uphold  distil- 
leries, saloons  and  breweries,  is  to  herald  the  weakness  and 
sandy  foundation  of  the  parties,  old  or  new.  As  comrades 
and  co-workers  in  behalf  the  downtrodden,  let  loyal  men  and 
women  unite  and  lead  in  the  vanguard  of  Christian  political 
victory. 


Levermore,  Charles  Herbert.  (Educator  and  Author.) 

I  am  in  favor  of  Socialism  because  I  believe  in  the  com- 
mon ownership  of  land  and  water  and  of  instruments  of  pro- 

—29— 


duction  and  distribution,  and  because  I  believe  that  the  high- 
est ideals  of  social  and  moral  perfection  would  lead  us  all  to- 
labor  for  the  welfare  of  the  community  rather  than  of  any 
individual. 

But  I  am  not  convinced  that  any  party  now  called  Social- 
ist, or  any  group  of  avowedly  Socialist  leaders  has  as  yet 
shown  a  safe  and  practicable  plan  for  the  realization  of  those 
ideals. 


Kinney,  Abbot.   (Author,  Venice,  Cal.) 

We  are  all  Socialists.  Man  is  a  social  animal.  It  is  con- 
sequently impossible  that  any  government  of  man  should  be 
anything  but  a  Socialism. 

The  people  have  lost  sight  of  the  fact  that  all  property  in 
a  State  belongs  to  the  State.  The  exercise  by  every  State  of 
the  right  of  eminent  domain  is  an  illustration  of  this.  Modern 
governments  customarily  pay  the  private  user  or  holder  of 
property,  when  the  property  is  taken  for  public  use.  This  is 
always  the  rule  when  property  is  taken  by  corporations,  or 
persons  under  a  delegation  to  them  of  the  right  of  eminent 
domain.  It  is  only  properly  so  delegated  for  public  utilities  in 
private  hands. 

Public  payment  for  property  so  taken  is  a  matter  of  con- 
vention and  convenience.  It  is  deemed  fair  that  property  taken 
from  one  member  of  the  society  for  the  benefit  of  all,  should 
be  paid  for  by  all.  Or,  if  such  property  is  taken  by  a  common 
carrier,  for  instance,  that  such  common  carrier  should  pay  for 
it.  In  case  of  public  stress,  however,  as  in  the  blowing  up  of  a 
row  of  houses  to  stop  the  course  of  a  fire,  or  in  the  seizure  of 
food  or  quarters  for  the  use  of  military  in  national  defense,  or 
in  the  clearing  away  of  houses  or  property  for  defensive  pur- 
poses, payment  may  or  may  not  be  made  as  the  conditions  indi- 
cate. 

More  than  this,  every  human  life  in  a  society  belongs  to 
the  State.  Thus  the  State  may  draft  its  citizens  to  fight  fire, 
suppress  disorder,  or  take  part  in  the  military  defense  of  the 
society  or  State.  The  State  also  imprisons  and  even  executes 
its  members  who  attack  the  general  welfare. 

—30— 


Cazalet,  Edward  Alexander.   (President  of  the  Anglo-Russian 
Literary  Society,  Imperial  Institute,  London.) 

The  ideals  of  Socialism  might  be  realized  by  the  precepts 
ofChristianity^  "love  your  neighbor^as  yourself."  Difficult 
social  questions  which  cannot  be  solved  by  the  head  are  some- 
times settled  by  the  heart,  for  it  appeals  to  the  conscience, 
diminishing  selfishness  and  making  all  classes  friends.  Chris- 
tian Socialism,  by  encouraging  mutual  concessions,  might  per- 
haps attain  better  results  than  agitation  and  violence. 


Allen,  Fred  Hovey.  (Clergyman  and  Author.) 

I  believe  in  a  Socialism  which  levels  upward,  which  makes 
a  man  what  he  was  not,  only  a  higher,  nobler,  richer  being.  I 
believe  that  next  to  being  God,  the  greatest  thing  is  to  be  a 
man.  The  more  Godlike  he  becomes,  the  more  man  will  reflect 
the  true  and  only  permanent  Socialism. 

I  am  in  favor  of  such  Socialism  as  will  attach  the  chain  of 
brotherhood  to  the  lowest,  if  that  lowest  is  capable  of  rising 
into  true  manhood,  because  truth,  honesty,  love  and  kindness 
mean  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  begun  on  earth,  and  equal  rights 
to  all  the  children  of  God. 


Helms,  E.  J.  (Clergyman.) 

I  am  in  favor  of  Socialism  insofar  as  it  is  the  practical  ap- 
plication of  Christianity  to  our  economic  and  industrial  life. 


Conger-Kaneko,  Josephine.  (Editor,  The  Progressive  Women.) 

I  am  in  favor  of  Socialism  because  it  seems  to  be  the  next 
step  in  social  evolution,  carrying  the  human  race  toward  a 
more  perfect  civilization. 

—31— 


Hitchcock,  Charles  C.  (Merchant  and  Author.) 

We  are  fast  coming  to  realize  that  co-operation  in  the  use 
of  our  economic  resources  is  the  only  form  of  society  worthy 
of  civilized  people. 

A  co-operative  commonwealth  demands  that  the  able- 
bodied  individual  shall  not  be  allowed  to  consume  more  wealth 
as  measured  in  labor  power,  than  he  creates.  Is  not  this  so 
evidently  reasonable  that  the  system  should  command  the  ap- 
proval of  every  fair  mind?  It  doubtless  would  do  so  were  we 
not  born  into  and  environed  by  the  capitalist  order,  thereby 
being  naturally  prejudiced  against  an  innovation  so  radically 
different  as  is  Socialism. 

Perhaps  no  more  comprehensive  definition  of  Socialism 
can  be  given  than  that  by_W>jtpr  iM-mrr^  Mi]1g;  wViipVi  is: 

"First.  The  collective  ownership  of  the  means  of  pro- 
ducing the  means  of  life." 

"Second.  The  democratic  management  by  the  workers  of 
the  collectively  owned  means  of  producing  the  means  of  life." 

Third.  Equal  opportunities  for  all  men  and  women  to  the 
use  and  benefits  of  these  collectively  owned  and  democrati- 
cally managed  means  of  producing  the  means  of  life." 

Under  the  present  order  of  society  the  means  of  produc- 
ing the  means  of  life  are  privately  owned  and  controlled ;  the 
owners  thereby  forming  a  privileged  class  and  are  enabled 
to  dictate  the  terms  on  which  the  means  of  life — land  and 
the  machinery  of  production — can  be  used. 
/"  As  a  result  of  this  private  ownership  labor  receives  but 
va  portion  of  the  product,  the  larger  part  of  wealth  produced 
either  wasted  in  the  strife  of  competition  or  retained  by 
the  capitalist  in  the  form  of  interest,  rent  and  profit. 

The  wealth  we  command  merely  through  the  ownership 
of  stocks  and  bonds — so-called  income  producing  capital — is 
wealth  received  which  we  do  nothing  to  produce ;  hence  this 
wealth  must,  of  necessity,  be  produced  by  others  who  are  de- 
prived of  a  portion  of  their  product.  This  wealth  thus  appro- 
priated is  wealth  derived  from  profit  in  the  employment  of 
labor  (surplus  value)./  A  thorough  study  of  economics  shows 
clearly  that  interest,  rent,  and  profit  result  in  exploitation  of 
labor — the  robbery  of  labor.  It  is  this  profit  system  which  is 
strangling  our  civilization.  Poverty  and  the  greater  portion 
of  crime  can  be  traced  directly  to  this  exploitive  system:/ 

—32— 


The  aim  of  the  Socialist  movement  is  the  dethronement 
of  capital  and  the  capitalistic  class  by  merging  all  humanity 
into  one  class,  a  producing  class. 

The  exploited  majority,  the  poverty  stricken,  the  sub- 
merged, as  now  under  capitalism,  will  under  a  Socialistic  Re- 
public come  into  their  inheritance — equality  of  opportunity  to 
the  resources  of  wealth  and  production — and  be  enabled  to 
retain  the  wealth  they  produce. 

The  capitalist  class,  in  any  fair  view  of  the  situation,  while 
being  obliged  to  surrender  the  privileges  now  retained  through 
the  private  ownership  of  "the  means  of  producing  the  means 
of  life,"  will  under  a  Social  Republic  receive  indirect  benefit 
which  we  claim  will  out-weigh  any  advantage  they  may  now 
seem  to  possess. 

Human  nature  does  not  stand  in  the  way  of  the  realiza- 
tion^f^^cuQzflfLerative  commonwealth.  It  is  natural  that  man- 
"THnd  not  only  seek  but  demand  that  to  which  they  are  in 
equity  entitled.  Under  capitalism  the  majority  are  exploited 
out  of  a  good  share  of  their  product.  As  the  producer  awak- 
ens to  an  understanding  of  the  present  situation,  it  is  this  nor- 
mal and  justifiable  self-interest — selfishness — which  will  prove 
to  be  a  strong,  if  not  the  leading,  factor  in  bringing  about  So- 
cialism. 

The  unseemly  antagonism  and  strifes  so  manifest  today 
under  capitalism  are  largely  traceable  directly  to  our  conflict- 
ing economic  interests  occasioned  by  the  private  ownership 
of  the  means  of  life. 

A  study  of  social  evolution  leads  clearly  in  the  direction 
of  Socialism.  But  it  is  when  we  carefully  consider  the  eco- 
nomic situation  that  we*  become  aware  of  the  fallacy  of  the 
capitalist  system  and  realize  that  the  wealth  producing  major- 
ity will  in  time  inevitably  demand,  as  a  matter  of  justice,  the 
co-operative  commonwealth ;  that  is,  will  insist  that  the  wealth 
producer  receive  the  wealth  he  produces — that  the  capitalist, 
who  as  capitalist  receives  usury  thereby  commanding,  without 
labor,  wealth  produced  by  others,  must  cease  to  be  a  parasite 
on  labor. 

This  changed  order,  this  revolution,  can  be  brought  about 
only  through  socialization  of  the  means  of  production  and  of 
distribution. 


—33— 


Not  very  long  ago  the  advocate  of  Socialism  was  the  voice 
"crying  in  the  wilderness."  To-day  he  bears  "good  tidings 
of  great  joy"  to  a  rapidly  assembling  multitude. 


Noll,  Aaron.  (Clergyman.) 

I  have  been  a  member  of  the  Socialist  Party  since  the 
year  1900.  I  have,  also,  for  twenty-five  years,  been  a  Chris- 
tian minister,  serving  pastorates,  in  regular  connection  with 
an  orthodox  denomination — the  Reformed  Church  in  the  United 
States.  I  am  increasingly  persuaded  of  the  righteousness  of 
the  Socialist  Movement.  To  me  it  seems  that  Socialism  will 
make  possible,  in  a  practical  way,  the  social  ideals  of  the  found- 
er of  the  Christian  Religion.  The  Church,  at  any  period  of  its 
history,  may,  or  it  may  not,  truthfully,  stand  for  the  practical* 
application  of  those  ideals.  But  the  Socialist  Movement,  at 
all  times,  the  world  over,  stands  for  social  and  industrial  jus- 
tice. Jesus  implanted  in  the  consciousness  of  man  the  worth 
of  the  individual  life.  Socialism  will  make  possible  the  true 
development  of  the  individual  unto  a  complete  life.  Social- 
ism will  throw  around  every  individual  a  wall  of  protection 
against  the  rapacity  of  the  strong,  greedy,  selfish  individual, 
and  it  will  put  into  the  hands  of  every  one  the  means  of  life 
whereby  he  may  rise  to  the  full  stature  of  his  being,  there  be- 
ing none  to  hinder  or  oppress  him.  The  concern  of  each  will 
be  the  concern  of  all.  But  it  will  be  a  concern  founded  on  jus- 
tice, love  and  peace.  Socialism,  being  scientifically  correct, 
holds  out  to  all  men  a  vision  of  future  good  that  inspires  a 
hope  that  makes  life  seem  worth  while. 


Russell,  Charles  Edward.  (Journalist  and  Author.) 

I  am  in  favor  of  Socialism  because  Socialism  would  put 
an  end  to  the  monstrous  system  of  injustice  by  which  men  toil 
to  create  wealth  and  then  are  deprived  of  the  wealth  that  they 
create.  All  wealth  is  created  by  labor  and  should  belong  to 
the  men  and  women  whose  labor  creates  it. 

—34— 


Socialism  would  abolish  poverty,,  put  an  end  to  child  labor, 
make  education  the  universal  possession,  abolish  prostitution 
and  make  the  earth  fit  for  the  inhabitation  of  its  children.  It 
would  obliterate  the  slum,  the  breeder  of  nine-tenths  of  the 
evils  that  now  afflict  society.  It  would  mean  industrial  as 
well  as  political  democracy.  I  believe  in  democracy.  There- 
fore, I  believe  in  Socialism,  which  is  perfected  and  applied 
democracy. 


James,  George  Wharton.  (Explorer,  Ethnologist  and  Author.) 

As  I  now  stand  I  can  scarcely  be  said  either  to  favor  or 
oppose  Socialism.  The  term  must  first  be  clearly  defined.  I 
believe  in  fellowship,  in  municipal  ownership  of  all  public  or 
semi-public  utilities;  the  establishment  of  free  municipal  mar- 
kets for  vegetables,  etc. ;  the  purchase  by  the  city  authorities 
of  fruit,  vegetables,  eggs,  meat,  coal,  etc.,  when  dealers  seek 
to  force  up  the  prices,  and  their  disposal  at  cost  to  users.  I 
would  take  back  from  all  corporations,  or  else  compel  them  to 
pay  to  the  people  an  annual  rent  for  the  same,  all  water  rights, 
power  rights,  etc.,  that  they  have  filed  upon  and  held  by  the 
right  of  might;  I  would  make  all  great  coal  mining,  oil  min- 
ing and  other  reapers  of  crops  for  which  they  did  not  sow,  pay 
a  certain  percentage  of  their  returns  into  the  public  treasury ; 
I  would  compel  the  abolition  of  all  slums,  even  to  the  extent 
of  compelling  the  municipalities  to  provide  decent  shelter  for 
the  poor  at  reasonable  rates;  I  would  parole  all  well-behaved 
prisoners  (as  a  rule)  at  the  end  of  a  year  and  give  them  a 
chance  to  make  good;  I  in  every  way  would  seek  to  educate 
the  people  as  a  whole  to  the  rights,  responsibilities  and  privi- 
leges of  government,  and  then  give  them,  what  is  theirs  inhe- 
rently, a  full  power  to  determine  how  and  by  whom  they  shall 
be  governed. 

These,  hastily  and  crudely  expressed,  are  some  of  my 
ideas  on  this  important  question. 


—35— 


Koeb,  Otto,  B.  S.  (Stanford  University,  Cal.) 

I  believe  in  universal  world-peace  between  all  nations. 
Since  the  Socialists  are  the  only  political  party  honestly  in- 
dorsing world-peace,  I  sympathize  with  them. 

I  am  in  favor  of  an  universal  eight-hour  working  day,  six 
days  per  week;  abolition  of  child  labor;  creation  of  old  age 
pensions  for  disabled  working  men.  A  certain  minimum  wage 
rate,  which  makes  it  possible  for  every  normally  developed 
laborer  to  Support  a  family.  Up  to  the  above  mentioned  points 
I  am  in  favor  of  Socialism. 


Cooke,  George  Willis.  (Author  and  Lecturer.) 

I  am  in  favor  of  Socialism  because  I  believe  in  equal  oppor- 
tunities for  all  children  born  into  the  world,  and  that  each 
should  be  able  to  use  all  his  natural  gifts  according  to  his  abil- 
ity. 

I  believe  in  Socialism  because  I  detest  all  forms  of  monop- 
oly and  exclusiveness,  not  being  able  to  see  why  the  minority 
should  possess  property  and  the  majority  should  be  deprived 
of  its  advantages.  If  it  is  good  for  any,  it  is  good  for  all. 

I  am  a  Socialist  because  it  is  quite  apparent  that  the  great 
fundamental  sources  of  the  necessities  of  life,  011  which  all 
alike  are  dependent,  are  social  and  public  in  their  nature,  and 
should  be  open  to  all.  They  should  belong  to  the  nation,  acces- 
sible on  the  same  terms  to  all  who  need  them,  without  giving 
monopolistic  advantage  to  any. 

I  am  a  Socialist  because  I  cannot  understand  why  one  man 
should  be  subject  to  another  as  slave,  serf  or  wage-earner.  No 
man  is  good  enough,  said  Lincoln,  to  have  the  control  of  an- 
other man's  life. 

I  am  a  Socialist  because  I  believe  in  the  equality  of  men 
and  women,  that  the  domination  of  women  by  men  has  been 
vastly  injurious  to  the  race,  and  that  the  ballot  will  give  women 
a  better  opportunity  to  live  a  noble  and  healthy  life  as  woman, 
wife  and  mother. 

I  am  a  Socialist  because  I  believe  in  freedom,  individual- 
ity and  initiative  for  every  man  and  woman,  and  that  these 
can  be  secured  for  all  men  and  women,  according  to  the  meas- 
ure of  their  individual  capacity,  only  by  that  co-operative 
method  offered  by  Socialism. 

—36— 


HERE  AND  THERE, 


Here  is  a  mother  kneeling  by  a  cradle,  who  vainly 
endeavors  with  smacks  and  kindly  words  to  appease 
her  hungry  babies. 

There  is  a  father,  dusty  and  fatigued,  vainly 
begging  for  work. 

Here  is  a  magnificent  edifice  which  is  called  a 
museum.  It  shelters  dead  mummies  and  statues  of 
marble. 

There  on  a  park  bench  sits  a  homeless  living  hu- 
man being,  who,  shivering  with  cold,  stares  at  the  pale 
moon  and  wonders  why  his  tears  are  subject  to 
gravitation. 

EDWARD  SILVIN. 


DEC    6    1932 


APR  11  1933 

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U.C.BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


YC   14983 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


